It’s final now, Stephen Curry will stay in the Bay Area. His new deal is in the books! The Warriors signed him to a two-year, $116 million extension on Friday, per ESPN’s Shams Charania. The deal includes a player option for the final year. Meaning, Curry could stick around the Bay Area till the 2028-29 season. This gives him a chance to finish his career with the franchise that drafted him and grab his coveted 5th ring.
This deal also pushes Curry into territory no player in league history has reached. Once the extension is factored in, Curry’s career on-court earnings will pass $600 million. This will make him the first NBA player to reach that mark. His career total will climb to roughly $652 million over the life of the deal.
Yet another first for the first and only unanimous MVP. For over a decade now, Stephen Curry has been the face of the Golden State Warriors. Hence, this number is fitting for a player who has redefined what NBA stars can earn while staying with one franchise.
The new contract also puts an end to the speculation surrounding his immediate future. Curry had been eligible for a two-year extension worth as much as $136.7 million, but the final agreement came in significantly below that figure. Curry’s new place atop the NBA’s career earnings list also puts some daylight between him and two players who have defined this era of basketball.
Stephen Curry’s new contract gives him massive leads over contemporaries in career earnings
LeBron James and Kevin Durant remain among the league’s highest-paid players ever, but Curry’s extension moves him ahead of both. According to the figures cited by ClutchPoints, Curry will finish the deal at approximately $652 million in career earnings, while Durant sits around $598 million and James around $592 million.
That gives Curry a lead of roughly $54 million over Durant and $60 million over James. It is another unusual accomplishment for Curry considering that his first contract with Golden State was a four-year, $12.7 million rookie deal. His earnings accelerated alongside his rise from promising young guard to two-time MVP and four-time champion.
There is also something particularly Curry-like about the timing. He is reaching the $600 million mark while committing the next two years of his career to the same organization that drafted him. But he could have had more.
Stephen Curry could have widened the gap but chose to take a $20 million paycut
Stephen Curry could have made the gap even larger. The maximum two-year extension available to him was worth roughly $136 million, but he agreed to $116 million instead. That means he left approximately $20 million on the table.
The decision gives Golden State some additional room to work with around him, which is particularly relevant for a roster still built around Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler. Curry has spent much of the offseason talking about wanting the Warriors to remain competitive rather than simply extending his career for its own sake. After signing the extension, he again pointed toward the challenge of keeping the team relevant as its veteran core gets older.
“You could ask me, you could ask Steve Kerr, you could ask Draymond (Green), we still believe that we can be that team. I think our challenge now is to reimagine what that looks like. And, you know, we have a veteran team. We need health on our side.”
The $20 million Curry gave up will not solve every roster problem, but it gives Golden State another bit of flexibility. Curry gets the long-term security he wanted, the Warriors keep their franchise player and the league’s first $600 million man gets to keep chasing another championship in the same uniform.
Stephen Curry Makes NBA History With New $116 Million Warriors Contract